"The only thing I really wish for is to love until I die of love."
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement. Saint Augustine
I just stumbled across this absolutely wonderful reflection from the Sisters of Life, and I would like to share it with all of you! Please feel free to pass it along to others, its message is so badly needed in this day and age.
An excerpt:
You are made in the image and likeness of God, springing forth from the heart of the Trinity. You are made in the image of Christ. You reflect a unique aspect of the FACE of GOD that no one before you or after you will ever bear. You are unrepeatable, precious, and sacred. God loved and willed you into existence, and it is His personal, intimate, passionate love for you right now, that is holding you in being. If God stopped loving you for a split nanosecond, not only would you cease to exist, but it would be as if you never were. Our hearts were created by God and for God, and nothing less than the Infinite One can satisfy us. Only friendship with God can satisfy the deepest longings for freedom and love in our hearts.
Hi, everyone. :) Yes, I know it's been over a month since I posted anything here. I'm sorry about that. :/ It's not that I had nothing to share or write about, just that I sort of ...didn't. I don't know. xD Lack of time and motivation, perhaps. But now I'm back. I will try to keep up!
Anyway, I've been wanting to share this for a while now, and I think it's high time I do! Back in February, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, an order of nuns in Ann Arbor, Michigan, were featured on Oprah! Shocking, I know. ;) I think it was a lovely show, and so very much needed in this day and age. Many of the questions that were asked I think just reflect the common ideas and misconceptions and fears and "important" things of today's world. So it's good they were answered. Answers are needed, and here they were given. :)
I am not much of an Oprah person myself, but I think she was really touched by the sisters' visit. Both she and Lisa seemed amazed at what they learned! No, nuns are not stuffy and lifeless non-humans. xD I greatly admire nuns like these and if I were called to be one, I would certainly follow God's call. (Oh, and FYI- a full habit is a must for me. No silly "religious pins" on street clothes. Either be a nun and be unafraid to proclaim the fact you are a bride of Christ to the world, or don't. No mushy in-between, please. Also of interest is the fact that the orders who do wear full habits are experiencing great growth, mostly young (the sisters' ages), and are thriving. The ones who don't are aging and rapidly ceasing to exist.)
I also must add that I am friends with a girl who is discerning a vocation with these sisters. :) Which I think is very cool! She just finished her sophomore year of college and has chosen to drop out, working for a year, then entering as a postulant. :) Please keep her in your prayers.
Without further ado, the videos:
(Please take the time to watch all four segments. They are not very long at all and well worth your time. Also, sorry for the few places the quality messes up, not sure why it does that.)
Part One To view Part One, click here. I'm sorry for the trouble!
It seems Harpo (Oprah's company) removed this video from Youtube. I'm keeping the dead link here for proof, lol. Parts 2, 3, 4 that I posted are still working. :)
I'm a Catholic girl trying to live a life of faith, beauty, hope, and love in a world lost in darkness. I am very imperfect, and rely on God's infinite mercy and patience as He continues to mold and form me (sometimes painfully) into the woman He wishes me to become. I am like a baby learning how to talk, trying to form with my own lips the words Christ said in prayer: Not my will, but Thine, be done. I still have a long way to go in learning to speak this His language, yet with Mary's help -- she who spoke it most perfectly of all creatures -- I will persevere. For to speak God's language fluently is to be a saint, which is the calling of every single one of us.
This blog is in the process of being formed (still!), and shall be a place for me to post thoughts, musings, reflections, quotes, and various things of beauty or interest to me. I am not the best at updating regularly, though I would like to do so eventually. Nevertheless, please linger a little while, and remember that comments are much appreciated! I would love to hear your thoughts. :) God bless you!
Behold the Heart which has so loved men
I adore Thee, O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, inflame my heart with the divine love with which Thine Own is all on fire.
When you approach the tabernacle, remember that He has been waiting for you for twenty centuries. ~ Saint Josemaría Escrivá
This blog is lovingly dedicated to Our Lady.
Mary, my Mother and Queen, pray for me and for all of us, thy children, that we may open our hearts to thy Son and His love.
O Mary, Mary, most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Mistress of the world, Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, Lily of purity, Rose of patience, Paradise of delight, Mirror of chastity, Model of innocence -- intercede for this poor banished pilgrim.
~ Saint Peter of Alcantara
Pray for us, Saint Brigid of Kildare, that the ancient fire you and your sisters tended for centuries will burn in our hearts also, as the fire of love for God and His Church.
Today the world is hungrier and thirstier than ever for motherhood which, physically or spiritually, is woman's great vocation. ~ Blessed John Paul II
Saint John Bosco, pray for us and for parish priests! "Jesus treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized, and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so He bade us to be gentle and humble of heart."
Saint Thérèse, Little Flower of God, pray for us, that we, too, will burn with the desire to make God loved everywhere throughout the world, by every human heart; and teach us to live as you did, in complete childlike trust and abandonment to Jesus.
"In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself."
"You, Lord, will descend to my nothingness and transform that nothingness into living fire."
O Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, We thank God for your heroic courage, constant perseverance, passionate purity, and deep love for our Crucified Lord. Pray for us that our love for Christ may deepen, and that we may imitate you in following God's will even when difficulties arise. Amen.
Flower of the Algonquins and Lily of the Mohawks, pray for us!
{Her name is pronounced: Gah-deh-ree Deh-gah-gwee-tah}
Pray for our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI
Lord, source of eternal life and truth, give to Your shepherd, the Pope, a spirit of courage and right judgement, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build Your Church into a sacrament of unity, love, and peace for all the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
We love you, Papa Benedetto!
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Gone too soon...
You are beautiful, no matter what they say. We love and miss you, Michael. Your work for God has only just begun. "Love lives forever."
The pure, the bright, the beautiful that stirred our hearts in youth, The impulses to wordless prayer, The streams of love and truth, The longing after something lost, The spirit's yearning cry, The striving after better hopes— These things can never die.
The timid hand stretched forth to aid A brother in his need; A kindly word in grief's dark hour That proves a friend indeed; The plea for mercy softly breathed, When justice threatens high, The sorrow of a contrite heart— These things shall never die.
Let nothing pass, for every hand Must find some work to do, Lose not a chance to waken love— Be firm and just and true. So shall a light that cannot fade Beam on thee from on high, And angel voices say to thee— "These things shall never die."
"When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize love! They treat Me as a dead object." ~ Our Lord to St. Maria Faustina
Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief!
"Oh God!" I cried, and that was all. But what are the prayers of the whole universe more than expansions of that one cry? It is not what God can give us, but God that we want. ~ George MacDonald
"The world of fairy tale, fantasy, and myth is inimical to the secular world and in total opposition to it, for it is interested not in limited laboratory proofs, but in truth." ~ Madeleine L'Engle
"It is no use to believe in God if your cosmology is no better than that of an atheist. With such theistic belief comes a whole other world of spirits, beneficial, benign, and sometimes harmful." ~ Arturo Vasquez
"We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home." ~ Jamie Tworkowski
"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." ~ Saint Francis of Assisi
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